Object tracking systems such as, for example, systems for controlling access to and tracking keys in an automotive dealership, have been available for some time. Among the most innovative of such systems are the object tracking systems and methodologies disclosed in various patents and patent applications of the present inventor. These include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,801,628; 6,075,441, 6,317,044; 6,195,005; 6,204,764; 6,407,665; 6,232,876; 6,392,543; 6,424,260; and 6,262,664 as well as pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/133,130. The disclosures of all of these patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference. Together they provide much of the detailed background material and detailed discussions of various configurations of hardware and software that underlie the inventions disclosed and claimed in the present disclosure. Accordingly, to the extent that such details are included in these incorporated references, they need not and will not be discussed extensively in the present disclosure.
While the object tracking system disclosed in the above patents and applications have been very successful, particularly when applied to the tracking of and the control of access to keys in an automotive dealership, they also can be somewhat less than completely satisfactory in some situations and environments. For example, these systems generally require a level of active participation by the user when checking objects in and out. A user, for instance, typically is required to identify himself by typing or otherwise entering a user name and to verify his identity by, for example, entering a secret password, placing a finger on a fingerprint scanner, or touching an ID badge or fob to a reader, before the system will allow access to objects secured therein. In some object tracking scenarios, this level of user sophistication and participation is too great, to cumbersome, or otherwise undesirable. In addition, it is less secure that it might be because a user may divulge his user name and password to another user or to unauthorized personnel, who may then access objects in the system using the falsely acquired credentials. A need exists, therefore, for an object tracking system that positively identifies each user with a minimum of user interaction and that prevents unauthorized access with stolen or improper credentials.
Prior object tracking systems also include other areas of potential weakness or security lapses. For instance, in systems for tracking keys, the key tags to which keys are attached generally have not been positively locked in their individual slots, so that a user can remove any key from the system, even keys to which he or she may not have authorized access. In other words, prior systems do not force the user to remove only the key that is requested or authorized. Prior systems also do not insure that the user returns the same key that was initially checked out by that user. Further, a significant measure of security is provided in prior systems because the keys and their key tags are allowed to be returned to any random slot within a bank of drawers, each with scores of slots. Since all the keys look similar, it is extremely difficult with such random slot assignment for a user to locate and extract a particular key with the intent, for instance, of stealing a vehicle, without properly logging into the system and thereby creating an audit trail. However, this security feature can be defeated by a clever user who repeatedly returns the subject key to the same slot within the system so that the physical location of the key is known without logging into the system and requesting the key. A need exists for an improved object tracking system and methodology that is configured and programmed to eliminate this and similar possibilities.
Other and related enhancements to existing object tracking systems also are needed. For example, visual inspection, either personal inspection or inspection through automated imaging techniques, of the condition of inventory in the system is desirable for detecting tampering with or removal of keys or other objects themselves while leaving their ID tags intact. Assignment of and controlled access to particular objects by particular users also is desirable in many scenarios where a user may be authorized to have access only to certain objects and not others or where a user may need access to different objects at different times or access only during certain times (during his or her shift for example). In some cases, objects should not be removed from a designated area and it is therefore desirable for an object tracking system to insure that removal from the area does not occur. In related scenarios, it may be desirable to track the movement of objects within a particular building or other larger area during the times when the object is checked out of the system by a user.
It is to the provision of an enhanced and improved object tracking system that addresses the above and other needs and shortcomings of prior art systems that the present invention is primarily directed.